Doncaster Racing had a frustrating race on the 1.53-mile Lime Rock (Conn.) Park road course on Monday. Mark Wilkins of Toronto drove the first stint in the No. 17 MineStar / Tim Hortons Porsche 911 GT3 Cup car. He gained one position from 13th to 12th before handing off to his father Greg, also of Toronto, after 38 minutes of the two-hour 30-minute race.
Greg Wilkins returned to the race in 15th position, where he was caught in a three-car tangle as another car hit the left front of the Doncaster Porsche, puncturing a radiator and knocking the driver's door off the car. After a tow back to the garage, the crew replaced the radiator and repaired the left front and nose of the car in a fast 10-minute stop. Wilkins returned to the track 17th, 24 laps behind the leader, and regained three positions to finish 14th.
Mark Wilkins will be back in the No. 61 AIM Autosport Daytona Prototype this week, testing at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course in Lexington, Ohio.
race report
car time driver action
17 start M Wilkins
38m change pit – G Wilkins in, four tires, fuel
43m G Wilkins hit on track, turn 1
garage – radiator, bodywork repair, four tires
1h9 G Wilkins back on track
Mark Wilkins "We struggled all weekend to get grip – we weren't on pace with the leaders – and then we got caught up in an incident on track. It was just a bad weekend. The track is small, there's no runoff and it always seems to be a crashfest. There's a lot of damage to a lot of cars and part of that's just because the track's too narrow. It makes it tough.
"We were making progress on setup over the course of the weekend; we kept going quicker and quicker. But there's still a lot of work that we would have done had we had more time, just to dial the car in and for me to get more comfortable and acquainted with that style of car. The good thing is it's only a couple of days before I can get back into a car and then I can put this [race] right behind me."
